What the hell is happening on tv between the Final Four games? Nobody wants this.

On what fucking planet does requiring a private organization--or, hell, ANY organization--to turn over a list of its "Jews" to the government legal? A zissen Pesach, y'all....

Disappointed that the NYT obit for Paul Ehrlich basically only talks about The Population Bomb. Ehrlich was often controversial, but his role in kickstarting the biodiversity movement needs to be acknowledged! www.nytimes.com/2026/03/15/b...

Bye bye Kristi--Pam, you're next!

Sage somehow doesn't seem as thrilled to be there as their parents. Wonder why?

Worth noting that Kash Patel's girlfriend gets SWAT protection when she travels.

This is actually something the President of the United States said at Davos today:

ICE just executed a woman in Minneapolis. Kristi Noem is a Nazi. What do we do with this? It seems like Waltz alerting the National Guard to defend the sovereign rights of his state is the appropriate response. ICE goons are Nazis and murderers. The purge needs to begin at the top.

@carlzimmer.com Any plans to write a piece taking down RFK Jr.'s recent claim that the Spanish Flu was a lab leak? I mean, you know better than most of us that we didn't even know what "viruses" were until the 1930s! 🤣

Galleys just dropped for my brilliant wife's amazing novel! You'll have to wait until July 15, but it will be worth it.

RIP Jimmy Cliff. One of the greats. youtu.be/kGeCeK85sUg?...

Hive mind: I'm teaching a history of film and AI course next semester. Is there any kind of good, accessible history of AI you know of that could be a companion to the class? I've been underwhelmed with what I've found.

The Information School at the U of Illinois is hiring a historian of culture and information! It's open rank. It's outside my unit and I'm not involved, but I have great colleagues in the iSchool and there's a lively community at UIUC in history of tech/info! illinois.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...

Turing, 1950: "‘Can machines think?’ I believe to be too meaningless to deserve discussion. Nevertheless I believe that at the end of the century the use of words... will have altered so much that one will be able to speak of machines thinking.” Really bad piece. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/o...

I can't believe everyone is missing it: It's obviously Luigi Mangione!

So a Federal judge just ordered that ICE must issue "at least two warnings" before deploying tear gas in Chicago. So now does she call Dan Bovino in for contempt charges? www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/u...

ICE is in Hyde Park (Chicago) where I live, circling the local public HS. Because they love abducting kids.

Greetings from the war zone on the South Side of Chicago:

Most "journalists" these days are 20-something interns with communications degrees from mid schools. Don't expect much from them. And sorry not sorry "actual" journalists. You have your moment right now and you're fucking the dog. Don't bite back: literally *anyone* could do your job. Fuckwits.

Very happy to announce that the Handbook of the Historiography of Earth and Environmental Sciences I coedited with Elena Aronova and Marco Tamborini is now available, for free (open access) via this link: link.springer.com/referencewor...

It's the cowboy hat dude again on the latest NYT article about fascist crackdown in Chicago. I hope he didn't tear his hamstring the last time! 🤣

Bovino 100% needs to be called in to congress to explain this. Also, this should invalidate 100% of ICE arrests going back to when he took over.

If this isn't grounds for immediate impeachment, I don't know what is. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/09...

This asshole. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/h...

In a stupendous feat of timing, Disney/Hulu just announced this! So sorry that I cancelled my subscription last week!

@djbduncan.bsky.social Bra-freaking-vo! That was a very measured, cutting takedown of Pinker's latest attempt to package his grievance and ego as "scholarship." "A book can be bad without its thesis being untrue. That, at least, should be common knowledge." Indeed!

Trump "hates us"? Will the SCOTUS decide that "hatred" for half of the American population is pretext to dismember the Constitution?

Hey historians: let H-Net know job ads for the University of Florida's new Hamilton School (a Western chauvinist program) violate their terms of service. The U of F is a public university, and not entitled to exceptions that private religious schools get. networks.h-net.org/jobs/69136/u...

Cancelled Hulu and Disney+ today! Fuck those fascist lickspittles!

Quick, everyone: burn your ANTIFA membership cards!

Translation: nothing to see here, Emperor Trump! We fully support your completely legal and democratic reign! www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/o...

Hmm... 11 million years ago there was a major impact? That would seem to align very well with 26 my periodicity, since we're only about halfway through a cycle.... www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/s...

Me responding to my wonderful Gen Z son:

Let's get one thing clear: only one side on the "trans issue" is violent or hateful--the one denying the existence and humanity of trans people. Trans people--like my son--and the people who support them are begging for empathy and respect. There is no part of "trans ideology" that endorses murder.

(Spoken in a German accent): "I was just asking questions!"

Hey, @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social, THIS is the way you "do politics the right way": www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/o...

I know that Charlie Kirk's killer was probably an even further-right groyper, but it could easily have been a Radical Leftist! Thank god we prevented that this time, but all the more reason to round up the Leftists before another tragedy happens.

Right wing zealots after being told that Kirk's killer was a typical white, male incel/alt-right/nihilistic wacko be like:

Great. So let's jump to the assumption that some random person who asked a legitimate question about mass shooters--and elicited a sneering response from Kirk--was somehow responsible for the shooting. Leftists, watch out: circumstantial proximity to extremists will cost you your freedom.

I deplore all gun violence. I'm genuinely sorry for Kirk's family and young children. There's no rationalizing or defending his murder. Also: when lawmakers in MN were assassinated, the Left didn't start demanding we round up all of our political opponents. Two things can be true at the same time.

Really excited that my wife Stephanie and I both had book announcements this week! Stephanie's is far and away a bigger deal--watch for her amazing novel next summer.

"The Dems made me cheat on my wife." That's a new one!

Is this a real thing? I've noticed that my male students seem uninterested in fiction, but I mostly teach tech majors and such. Most of my male friends still read fiction, except for the ones who never did, which makes me wonder if anything has really changed. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/s...

In response to my post about Pinker's op ed in the NYT today. Sigh.

The Algorithm suggests I should post more about my dog to get engagement. Here is Bodhi. And his stepsister Risu. Bodhi is a Good Dog. Risu is trouble.

NSF grant terminations are disproportionately affecting underrepresented scientists. 58% of canceled grants have women PIs, despite making up only 34% of awards. 17% of canceled grants have Black PIs (versus 4% of the pool). Hispanic and disabled PIs are twice as likely to have NSF grants canceled.

"Ms. Leavitt did not offer any evidence of “D.E.I.” pursuits Dr. Hayden engaged in. She accused Dr. Hayden of allowing “inappropriate books in the library for children.” This is how fucking stupid these people are. They think the LoC is a lending library. You can't even get in without a special ID.

The new Pope got his MDiv on the block I live on. I pay to park in the school's garage. My mom worked there for years as an administrator, and I worked there summers in HS. This is pretty wild for Chicagoans! Especially south-siders. I bet he's a Sox fan...

Hang on: The White Stripes and Bad Company are being inducted into the HoF, but Joy Division/New Order was rejected? They literally created two new genres. Insane. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/27/a...

Aren't the white vampires in Sinners Pete Seeger, etc.?